A Love-hate History
by Edit100
Summary: Why did the predators move beyond their primitive, savage ways? They would rather eat disgusting insects and bugs then feast on their main food source, prey. Why? Between the prey and the predators, there is a history to be told, a love-hate story. Read as Judy's grandpa tells the history of how their coexistence forms.
1. Hopps' Family

Hopps' Family

* * *

The afternoon express train departed Zootopia, heading for Bunnyburrow. One of the passenger cars had a small dome-shaped second-floor observation platform specially made for small animals. Inside the dome-shaped window stood two animals, a bunny and a fox, but despite the fact that they were standing closely to each other; that they were a couple, there weren't any major conversation between the bunny and the fox for the first 10 minutes of the ride, and soon enough, the fox decided to break the silence...

"Carrots, you seem busy?" asked Nick.

"I'm texting my sisters," said Judy, busy typing her smartphone with her cute little paws.

Soon, they went back to silence mode. The typing noise coming from the bunny's phone annoyed the fox. He, once again, thought of something to talk about, until he saw her wearing the exact same clothes as yesterday night in Gazelle's concert...

"Do you think we should wear a bit more… formal?" said Nick, wearing his usual light green Hawaiian shirt with his red-and-blue stripes tie.

"Casual wear is fine. They won't care," said Judy with her eyes focusing on the phone screen.

"Okay, what are we having for dinner?" said Nick as he attempted to break the silence once more.

"Carrots? I'm not sure—"

"So do all rabbits eat carrots only?"

"Nick, please let me focus here. I'm trying to reply all my sisters' messages but they just keep sending me, 'is Nick your boyfriend, is Nick your boyfriend?' God, so annoying..."

The look on her nervous face and her droopy ears made it very clear to Nick that she haven't told her parents about their relationship. So, he took out his black smartphone and started typing.

Nick: hi carrots :)

No replies...

Nick: u did tell your parents about our little secret, did u not?

Judy: what do u mean our little secret?

Nick: cmon, the 'u know u love me" secret? I bet u haven't told them, am i right?

"Nick, you're right, you're absolutely right. There, I said it, happy now?"

"Carrots, it's okay. Your parents will be excited to see me."

The little bunny sighed. She pocketed her phone away and looked out of the dome-shaped window to check if they were there yet.

"What's the matter, afraid of saying 'I love you, Nick!' to your parents? If that's the case, then—"

"You're a predator, Nick!" said Judy, looking nervously at her soon-to-be official boyfriend.

"So what, they think that I'll eat them all?"

"No, what I'm trying to say is that... some of my sisters and brothers... They don't really like being around with foxes, I mean, you know Gideon Grey, right? They have a history of being bullied by him, like me."

"Okay, am I Gideon Grey, no, I'm not so don't worry."

"But still, I'm worried that you would feel unwelcomed."

"These things happen. I'm used to that anyway, and if you insist on not letting me be with your family, then I wouldn't. No harm done."

"Don't, don't," said Judy, holding his hands. "Nick, thanks for joining me, I really am, I mean, I kinda want them to get to know more about you, so I invited you to our family dinner, but I'm just not so sure about revealing our little secret, instead I told them you were my partner and a good friend of mine."

"Carrots, the moment you said about bringing me to your family dinner, is the moment they started to guess who I am and what is the connection between you and me, so instead of being passive aggressive, let's be honest and tell your family about our little secret, I mean, we'll do this together, like, haven't we always been?"

"You're right... Sooner or later, we have to let them know," smiled the little bunny.

"There we go; the look on your positive face will surely persuade your parents," said the fox, kissing the bunny's forehead.

"Nick!" said the dumb bunny as she hugged the sly fox tightly.

The cute couple hugged as they watch the outskirts of Bunnyburrow getting closer, and the orange-ish sun set down behind the open fields.

"Carrots, is that your family?" said Nick as he looked out of the window and saw tiny little bunnies holding a 'Judy has a boyfriend' home-made banner.

"Yup, 275 sisters and brothers, 1 mum, 1 dad and 1 old grandpa."

"And, you know all their names?"

"Of course! Let's go down there and say hello."

The train had finally stopped at the station. The 3 types of train doors opened simultaneously as passengers, mostly rabbits who worked in the city, stepped out of the train, and behind all the exiting rabbits, stood the couple holding hands, but as the crowd of little rabbits shouted, "Judy has a boyfriend, Judy has a boyfriend!" they immediately let go.

The sound of cheering made Judy felt back home again, but for Nick, his mind was preoccupied with the sign beside the station which indicated the ever-increasing numbers of rabbits in Bunnyburrow.

"Mum, Dad!" shouted Judy.

As they both exited from the train, Judy's siblings ran to greet her and Nick, in which most of them hugged both of his legs and grabbed his tail like he was a stuffed animal.

"Okay kids, leave the fox alone," said Bonnie, Judy's mother.

"Listen to your mother or no TV for tonight!" said Stu, Judy's father, and soon the herd of rabbits let go of the stuffed animal fox.

"Mum, Dad, you're here!" said Judy as she hugged her parents one by one with kisses on both of their cheeks.

"Where's Jill?" said Judy who couldn't find her big sister.

"Oh, Jill and your big brothers are baking blueberry pies."

"That's great, mum. Nick loves blueberries."

"Speaking of Nick, Judy, you have a lot of explaining to do," said Stu.

"Your father's right, sweetheart," said Bonnie.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Bon?" responded Stu immediately.

"I hope not, I mean, are you dating a fox?"

"Guys, claim down. This is Nick, my partner from ZPD."

"Hi, I'm Nicholas Wilde. Nice to meet you," said Nick as he shook hands with Judy's parents.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Wilde. I'm Stu Hopps, Judy's father."

"I'm Bonnie Hopps, Judy's mother. Nice to meet you too."

"So... That's it? He's not your boyfriend?" said Stu.

"Well, actually, we are more than just partners..."

Judy paused for a moment, and saw her confused parents and a constant fixed smile from Nick who clearly wanted Judy to be the one revealing their little secret.

"Yes, Nick's my boyfriend..."

"Oh, my daughter is... dating a fox..." said Stu with a nervous chuckle.

"Well, Stu... isn't he... adorable?" replied Bonnie awkwardly. "Oh. Why don't we all go back to our place, have dinner... and get to know more about your boyfriend... Nick, huh, Stu?"

"Yes, yes. Judy, you have a lot of explaining to do!" said Stu as he took one step back away from the fox, and said, "Kids, it's time to go home!" and quickly walked away.

Soon the herd of rabbits followed his father and mother back home, but it didn't stop the little ones cuddling the fox along the way.

"Okay now. I think he has had enough, so let him go, guys, c'mon."

"Alright, Judy..." said one of the little bunnies.

"Judy, thanks."

"Nick, I hope you could understand that... my parents have always wanted me to date my kind..."

"I get your father's point, I mean, after all you are good at multiplying, huh, am I right?"

"Nick, stop it!"

"Your kind is SOooo good at multiplying, that the population sign couldn't even catch up."

"You mean the sign beside the station? It's fake, Nick. They put the sign up so animals like you will know how GOOD we are at multiplying."

"Is that a fact?"

"I'm serious; we really put that sign up just to joke about it."

"Haha, I didn't know bunnies have a good sense of humor."

"Speaking of funny, I hope you won't find it funny when you see our house."

"Ha, don't tell me you're all living in burrows?"

"Close enough, follow me!" she yelled as she raced along a path to the top of a hill.

"Wait up, Carrots!" said Nick.

The fox ran with all his might but still couldn't catch up with the bunny. Soon, they both stood on top of a low hill overlooking Judy Hopps' family house.

"Wow, you guys actually live in a burrow? Look, there's even a TV antenna sticking out of the hill, and windows along the hilly slopes!"

"Glad you find it amazing. I think your height should be able to fit through most of our doors, but I don't think you'll be comfortable with your head touching the ceiling, especially in my small room..." Judy paused for a moment, thinking about the stuffed bunnies and posters and other valuables that were moved to the city. "Well, what's left of it anyway: a bed, a desk... Oh wait, I have video games that we can play together. Let's go!"

"Alright, Carrots, I'm right behind you..."


	2. An Excellent Father

An Excellent Father

* * *

"You okay, Carrots?"

"You stole my freaking kills, Nick!"

They were playing free-for-all in Callofduty, but apparently, they've teamed up together and dominated the whole match.

"Haha, I got the final killcam, Carrots. You suck!"

"I got 12 kills and zero deaths! And you only got 8 kills and 1 death. I won, Slick, and you know it. Just admit I'm 'proer' than you."

"Oh really? I'll 1v1 you next round, dumb bunny!"

"Sniper rifles only. I'll quick scope you till you rage quit, dumb fox—"

"Dinner's ready!" announced Bonnie through the many speakers along the hallways of the house.

With that, the couple sat on wooden floor with the computer screen on the desk still displaying, 'game over.' They looked at each other for a while, gazing steady, unblinking.

"How long have we been dating?" said the fox, trying not to be awkward.

"I don't know… 3 months after you graduated?"

"Well, you started visiting me while I was in the police boot camp so technically we've been dating for almost a year now."

The bunny didn't reply. She began staring aimlessly at the computer screen, avoiding eye contact with the fox; she was speechless.

"Judy, it's gonna be fine, I mean, would your parents say 'no' just to hurt your feelings, of course not," said the fox. He tossed the PS4 controller on the bed, stood up and turned off the computer screen, as well as the PS4.

"I'll tell you what: I'll do all the talking, okay?"

The fox held the bunny's paws and lifted her up.

"Thanks. It's just that," the bunny paused for a second to think of the right words to say, "I hope they won't be so... melodramatic."

"C'mon, there's nothing to worry. Worst case scenario: your dad kicks me out of the house, and if that happens, you know what I'll say to him?"

The bunny shook his head while her eyes focused on unplugging the PS4 with the disk still in it.

"I'll be back! DUN DUN DA DUN DUN DUN" cranked the fox with his gravelly voice.

The bunny giggled as she stuffed the console and its remote controllers into her old drawstring bag, and said, "Judy, come with me if you want to live," in a not-so-gravelly voice.

They both laughed out loud.

"Hasta la vista baby"

"Quit it. You're gonna make my throat sore," coughed the bunny.

"Okay, drama queen," replied the fox as he picked up the remaining video games' cases on top of the desk, passing them to the bunny, "you forgot these."

"Oh yeah, Battlefield," said the bunny, stuffing them into her bag as well.

"You know, Carrots, you play video games; you don't like being called cute, are you sure you're a female rabbit, cause I'm starting to feel like I'm dating a—"

"'Anyone can be anything,' remember?"

"So you're a male now... let me check your genitals—" the fox started tickling the bunny who was packing beside her bed.

"Stop it Nick, stop tickling me!"

"Are you done packing; are you done being sad?" said the fox still tickling the bunny's belly.

"Alright, alright, I'm done packing; I'm fine. Let's just go now. We'll try out some of the blueberry pies that my family baked, alright? They learnt it from Gideon Grey."

"Really? I thought he was a jerk, wasn't he?"

"Well, he's doing business with us, and he thought maybe teaching us how to make his pies could improve our relationship; I tasted his pies; I know he's got some secret ingredients added to his pies, but I'm not complaining."

"Ha, he's a hillbilly but a clever one, I can tell you that... so, how far is the dining room?"

"Not far. It's located at the center of our house. Follow me, I'll show you."

After a short walk along the corridor, down the staircase, Nick followed Judy to a balcony that overlooks the dining hall.

"Wow, that's one crowded dining hall down there," said Nick.

"Yup, we're one big family... Hey look! It's Jill."

"Judy, over here!" waved Jill.

"Jill, hey there!" shouted Judy.

"Quickly, Judy, before they eat all pies."

"Sure I'll be there in a sec... That's Jill, the one wearing a short, silk scarf knotted around the neck. Come, I'll let you meet her."

The fox once more followed the bunny down the stairs, and as they walked closer to the dining hall, the more bunnies they needed to pass through.

They finally met Jill near a small flower shaped wooden table, closest to the kitchen. In front of the table was a 70 inch TV hanged on the wall.

"Judy, so nice to see you in one piece, I mean, you're now dating a fox? Wow! What's the big city life like?"

"Wow, Jill, one at a time! This is Nick!"

"Hi, nice to meet you," said the fox kindly as he shook hands with the bunny that was tall enough to reach his shoulders.

"Your boyfriend! Nice to meet you... So, Judy, how's it like living in Zootopia?"

"It's great... in terms of convenience, I mean, you don't have to drive your car to a supermarket, like there's always one just around the corner—"

"Hey, how's it going, Jude the Dude?" said William, interrupting Jill's conversation while holding a big tray of pies with his left hand.

"Hey, Will."

"And you must be Nick. I'm William, Judy's big brother," said William, shaking the fox's hand with his right hand.

"Nice to meet you," said the fox who was surprised to see that, for the first time in his life, a rabbit that was almost as equally tall as him.

"Will, go serve the pies!" yelled Jill.

"Whatever… Oh Nick, Jude the Dude here texted me, saying you like blueberries so I made this extra large, just for you," said William as he placed down four plates of pie on the small table and left in a hurry, getting out of Jill's sight.

"Judy, why don't you sit next to Nick? I'll be in the kitchen. Oh, after you're finished dealing with dad, go to my room, we made a surprise for you."

"Really? Thanks, I'll be there—"

"Speaking of dad, he's here," Jill whispered into Judy's ears and ran back to the kitchen.

"Mr. Wilde," said Stu with a nervous chuckle on his face.

They both stood there, staring at each other like strangers.

"Sit, sit… Oh, try out some of our homemade blueberry pies," said Bonnie who came from the kitchen and quickly sat down beside his husband, both facing Nick and Judy.

"Thanks, Stu, and Bonnie. I really appreciate the hospitality here," said Nick as he sat down and sliced one small proportion of his pie. "This is really good," said Nick while chewing the tasty pie.

But after the fox finished his slice of pie, the staring competition began again.

"So… Judy, how did you meet Nick?" said Bonnie, trying not to embarrass his husband.

"Nick… and I met at the ZPD when solving a case."

"So, he's already a police officer? But I thought you said he just graduated from police academy," said Bonnie.

"NOooo, I mean, he was a suspect for the 14 missing mammal case."

"What, he was a criminal?" said Stu.

"NOooo, he was a—"

"A small-time businessman," replied Nick.

"A legitimate businessman?" questioned Stu.

"Guys, before we met, he sold popsicles. End of story"

Stu stopped for a moment, thinking about what he was going to ask. He then turned his attention to his daughter, and asked a straightforward question, "Judy, do you love him?"

"Yes?"

"Mr. Wilde, do you love my daughter?"

"Yes!"

"Then tell us why did you choose our daughter; more importantly, tell us why did you quit doing business?"

"Well, to be honest with you, sir, it's your daughter who changed my mind. She's full of optimism… and, and the look on her energetic face always gives me a purpose in life," Nick paused for a moment, and looked at Judy. "Life is hard being a fox: Too often, I'm mistreated; I'm not trusted because I'm a fox, and no matter how I tried to fit into society, the world only sees foxes as untrustworthy and shifty animals, and it led me to believe that I could only be what I am, a fox that couldn't be trusted; a fox that hustled other animals for a living… but when I met your daughter and she asked me to help her solve a case, I have never felt so trusted in all my life. I quit selling popsicles because your daughter told me that I'm so much more…" Nick paused again as Judy's eyes started to weep a few teardrops, "I'm more than just a popsicle hustler; that I can be anything I want, even being an officer of the law—"

"Oh, sweetheart, here, have a tissue," said Bonnie.

"Thanks mum," she gulped and stopped crying, "Nick is not a self-indulgent jerk, and most certainly not what you all think he is. I have been dating him for almost a year and... and… I can tell you that he has a caring heart for those who actually care about him. I trust him and I love him."

"Oh Judy," Stu hesitated for a brief moment, "Nick is your boyfriend, no matter what we say or think."

"Sweetheart, your father's right. You're a big bunny now, and if we start deciding what our kids should do, they'll start relying on us for making tough decision for them."

"What, really?" said Judy.

"Of course, I mean, you're the one who didn't let us decide what you want to be, that's what got you into the police force in the first place. And look at you now, a police lieutenant. I'm proud of you."

"Dad, I know I'm not always a good listener and I know you did that just because you love and care about me... I just want to say: you're an excellent father no matter what."

"Oh Judy... did you hear that Bon?" laughed Stu, "I'm an excellent father—"

"I have an excellent mother as well," Judy interrupted.

"Did you hear that Stu?"

"Ha, good one Judy," Stu laughed, and then he hesitated, like something wasn't right, "wait a minute, if Judy's a lieutenant, would that make her your boss, Nick?"

The two looked at each other uneasily after Stu asked.

"Officer Wilde, reporting for duty, ma'am!" the fox saluted, pretending like it was a gag, like nothing was wrong; he was embarrassed. He knew her father was mocking him, but it was for her daughter's own good, and she knew that as well...

"Very funny, Nick," said Judy. She looked back at her father, and said, "dad, he maybe under me, but I still need his financial support if we are going to live in the big city."

"Well, I hope you're not still living in that small apartment, dear. I know rabbits don't need to take a shower that often but you should really rent a place that has one; it's good for your hygiene, and health."

"Gee dad—"

"I actually rented my apartment out," the fox interrupted, "we're saving money for a new apartment, so at the meantime, I'll be staying at Judy's small apartment, but I have to say though, the rent for that place is kinda expensive compared to the other ones, right Judy?"

Indeed, the rent for the bunny's small apartment was outrageously expensive, for it was located too close to the central station of Zootopia.

"Yup, at least we're saving money, I mean, with Nick's salary and his rental income, plus my salary, we might be able to purchase our own apartment in the near future."

"Great! One less thing to worry about," said Stu as he suddenly checked his watch. He quickly looked back up, face towards the fox, and said, "Nick, you are always welcome into our family. Just take good care of Judy when she's in the big city, okay?"

"You have my word, sir. "

"Good! Time to watch TV!" He took a huge universal remote control out of his jumpsuit center pouch and turned on the TV.

"Moose interviewer: …Welcome back to ZNN as we continue on the interview with our mayor candidate, Donald Trumpster. So, as you were saying?

Donald Trumpster: I'm going to build a wall, bigger, better and stronger than ever before. And I'm going to have the notorious mod boss, Mr. Big, pay for it!

Moose interviewer: I can see the crowds downstage are cheering for you—

Donald Trumpster: Yes, they are, because a taller wall around Little Rodentia means no more big animals coming into our town illegally, and stomping us.

Moose interviewer: Yes but today, Mr. Big said, and I'm just quoting him, he said, 'I'm not going to pay for that f-king wall!' So if you don't get an actual cheque from Mr. Big for whatever it will cost, how are you going to make him pay for the wall?

Donald Trumpster: I will, and the wall just got 5 feet taller, believe me! We have no border. We have no control. Animals coming in and out as they please. We need to build a wall and it has to be built quickly.'..."

The fox's mouth opened a little, curiously staring at the golden haired lemming on the TV. The cameraman had to use a telephoto lens to focus on the lemming, like a magnifying glass, which made the surrounding microphones looked gigantic. The fox was astonished that a lemming can be that small yet so powerful.

"That's Donald Trumpster, Mr. Wilde. Will you vote for him?" said Stu.

"I… don't know. I'm not into politics, sorry," lied the fox. He knew politics; knew well enough that if he had said yes, there would be tough questions for him, asking him why, and if he had said no, there could be disagreements with the prey supporters, like Stu, so to avoid arguments over a simple 'yes or no' question, he lied and stayed neutral, but deep down inside the fox's mind, no doubt he didn't want the lemming to win, for nothing benefits him when voting him.

"Well, let me tell you: he's got the majority of rodents supporting him, but with mayor Lionheart back in the game, things are going to get ugly, I mean, the 'Nighthowler' aftermath made mayor Lionheart look like the hero, protector of the city, locking predators away in an asylum, that's what prey voters want, an executor, not some 'talk but no promises' kind of mayor. He actually did something—"

"Judy have you met Nick's family yet?" asked Bonnie, barging into the conversation.

"Not yet, but eventually we will."

"Ah yes, mind if you could tell us what your dad do, Mr. Wilde?" questioned Stu.

"He's a tailor. He owns a tailor shop in Happytown," the dishonest fox deceived the rabbit again. It was not like the fox wanted to lied to the bunny's parents, it was because he wasn't entirely sure what his father did for a living: owning a tailor shop; built and owned a theme park that was later sold to the highest bidder; buying properties; receiving rental income; owning and selling his properties… Even if the fox told her parents the truth, it would make him look arrogant; unworthy of comparison with her parents as they were mere farmers. Perhaps, he thought to himself, later in future, Judy could explain it to them, that their daughter had a boyfriend whose father was, more or less, a successful fox.

"Oooo, a tailor, I should get my tuxedo fixed in case you two get married."

"Dad!" yelled the bunny. Even though a rabbit's face cannot blush, they all knew she was immensely embarrassed.

"Stu," replied Bonnie as she stared at his husband, signaling him to watch what he was saying, "and your mother?"

"She's a housewife."

"Do they know you're dating with a rabbit?" questioned Bonnie.

The fox wasn't prepared to answer this question; this time, he gave up lying and said, "No, we haven't told them yet."

"We should hold a… Nick and Judy's family reunion. You know, a party where we can meet them in person and get to know each other. Does that sound good to you Stu?"

"What?" Stu was busy watching TV, "Yeah, sure!"

They appeared oblivious of the fox's lies, but no to her. She partially knew Nick's family; knew that they were... 'complicated,' and if her parents kept on asking the fox, the more she had to explain to them. So, disgracefully, she quickly finished her pie and excused herself, "Mum, dad, I have to go now."

"Where are you going, sweetie?

"Jill and the rest made a surprise for me."

"Sure... oh, are you two both staying for the night?"

"I guess not cause we have work tomorrow. Right, Nick?"

The fox nodded, finishing his pie as well. "Leave the plates to me, Carrots. I'll take them to the kitchen."

"Carrots?" questioned Stu.

"Oh, Nick likes to call me that."

"Well, that's racist."

They paused and looked at each other like strangers again.

"Just kidding!"

"I think you might have stepped a bit too far there, Stu."

"It's okay, Mr. and Ms. Hopps. I'll leave you two alone to enjoy your pies," said Nick awkwardly as he quickly walked to the kitchen, and heard Hopps' parents arguing quietly in the background.

After a few steps of walking, the fox was in the kitchen. He saw Jill and William at the corner the kitchen beside a storage room. They appeared to be chatting, or more like gossiping in the background. The fox paid no attention to the two tall rabbits and placed the plates in the sink.

"How's the pie, Nick?" said the bunny that was as tall as the fox.

"It's delicious—" before the fox could finish his compliment, the tall male bunny grabbed his green Hawaiian shirt and flung him inside the dimly lighted storage room with the female bunny closing the door behind them…


	3. Sly Nick

Sly Nick

* * *

Nick landed on his back against the wall

"How dare you try and date my sister Judy? If you lay one finger on her, I'll beat the hell out of you, fox!" yelled the tall bunny.

Being threatened by a bunny, Nick remained claim.

"Hold on for a second, will you?"

He took out his black smartphone, opened up a video recording app, and tapped the record button on his screen.

"Could you say that again please? Judy would love to see this."

The fox outsmarted them. He even opened up a messaging app, texting Judy for help just to make sure that they didn't cross the line.

"An assault on a police officer is a punishable offense: 5 years jail time," the fox smiled smugly. He always wanted to say that, "so if you don't want to end up in jail, I suggest you two leave this room, right now, and I won't tell anyone this ever happened, okay?"

"Your laws don't apply to us, fox, we know you're a cop and we'll say that we did it on self-defense—"

"William, are you stupid? He just recorded you; that's evidence!"

"Ha! You bunnies."

"You think this is funny? You think that you're welcomed? Our young brothers and sisters may see you as a cute furry fox with a long fluffy tail, but we don't. Foxes eat rabbits, we see you as a threat," said Jill, trying to reason with the fox.

"What? I thought we were friends, weren't we? All that friendly greetings and handshaking, how about we do that again? 'Hi, I'm Nick, and you are—'"

"Shut up and take a good look at my arms!" yelled the tall bunny, rolling up his sleeves.

The fox saw deep scars on both of the tall bunny's arms.

"Can you see those claw marks? Gideon Grey did this to me when I stood up and defended Jill. Give me a good reason why I should let a fox date one of my sisters."

"Alright, am I Gideon Grey, no I'm not. And where I come from, we treat our guests with manners—"

"What are you two doing with that fox?" yelled the old rabbit, peeking through the door.

"Nick!" shouted Judy, pushing away his grandpa.

"Looks like you're not getting away with this."

"ENOUGH WITH THE FOX!"

The tall bunny punched the fox right into his face, knocking him out instantly.

The two bunnies' eyes flamed with resentment when the old rabbit told them to leave, but soon enough, the two left the storage room and got out of his sight.

"I apologize for my... prejudiced grandsons and daughters... I'm Charlie Hopps," said the old rabbit. He approached the fox, bravely shaking the fox hands.

"Gee… Thanks for saving me back there, Mr. Hopps," said the fox as he looked the old rabbit up and down, and found it funny that he was wearing pajamas.

"Oh, don't mind me. I came here just to grab some wine before I sleep, Nick," said the old rabbit as they walked out of the storage room.

"How do you know my name?" replied the curious fox.

"We live in a small circle. And you're the first fox to set foot into our house. Of course I know your name, and I also know you'll be marrying my granddaughter... Jude?" responded the old rabbit as he slowly opened the fridge, grabbed a nearly-finished bottle of red wine, and poured it into a wine glass with the fridge beeping.

"Her name is Judy and she's my girlfriend, not my wife… for now," said Nick, closing the fridge door.

"Ha, rumors spread like wildfire: Very misleading," laughed the old rabbit as he took a sip of the wine, and threw the empty bottle into the trash.

"Mr. Hopps, you do realize that I'm a," the fox coughed, "a fox."

"You don't say," he laughed and slowly walked out of Nick's sight.

"Mr. Hopps, I don't want to sound like a jerk, I mean, I appreciate the help, but I thought rabbits don't like foxes."

"Oh, just call me, grandpa. I'm used to it anyway," he stopped walking and slowly turned around. "And why would you come up with something like that?"

"Well, it's abnormal for a rabbit to help a fox, and for an old rabbit like you, shouldn't you be more of an… old guard?"

"You think I'm one of those traditionalists, an old rabbit who still believes that predators still eat prey? Ha!"

He took a sip of red wine, and said, "Do you like history?"

"I can't say I don't—"

"Then come with me and I'll tell you why I helped a fox. Like you said, 'we'll talk like civilized animals.'"

"Were you watching me being intimidated back there?"

"No, I... Alright, I did, but I'm impressed how you handled that situation, I mean, taking out your phone, recording their actions, a clever move!"

"Mr. Hopps, I mean, grandpa, I mean thanks—"

"Ha! Where's Judy?"

"She's with her sisters—"

"Good, I reckon you have nothing to do in our rabbits' den except getting bullied, huh am I right?"

"Yes?"

"Then let's go! Come with me... to my study room..."

The fox didn't find the bullying part funny, but curiously enough, he followed the old rabbit anyway.


	4. A Love-hate History

A Love-hate History

* * *

The fox stood in front of a small wooden door with two polished wooden pillars in between. The door was marked 'grandpa's studyroom' and when the old rabbit opened it, the fox looked amazed at how many bookshelves surrounding a double bed in middle of the squared studyroom. In front of the bed was a coffee table sacked with many books and notepads, and two dark-red synthetic leather armchairs facing towards the bed with the coffee table in the middle.

"Sit, sit," said the old rabbit as he placed the wine glass on the edge of the coffee table.

The fox sat on the old yet comfy armchair, and the smell of musty books reminded him of his school library, which he rarely went there to read.

At first glance, he thought the old rabbit was a bookworm or a book collector, but when he looked behind him, his eyes were focused on a couple of framed certificate hanging on the wall beside the door, especially the one indicating, 'Certificate of Appreciation, Professor Doctor Charlie Hopps, Teaching and course evaluation for the history of Zooland from 1991 to 2000 at Zooland University'

"You're a professor at Zooland University."

"You're one observant fox, Nick," said the professor as he sat down. "Now, are you familiar with the history of Zooland?"

The fox shook his head awkwardly.

"Alright then, I'll keep it simple," said the old rabbit. He reached his notebook on his bed, opened the Zoogle Map app, and showed it to the fox.

"This is the world map of Zooland, or Pangea in terms of geography. I reckon you are no stranger to it, yes?" the fox nodded, "Earth has one big continent, Pangea, but some might argue that Earth has two continents, because Pengea was split into two, with one third of the land up north, and two thirds down south. At the center of Pangea, that's where the two continents connect. But compared to the vast and endless ocean, Pangea is relatively small. It accounts for approximately 10 percent of Earth's surface; the rest is covered in water," the professor paused for a sip of wine and then continued on, "Nevertheless, life began on this small continent, with dinosaurs dominating Earth for many, many years until an asteroid hit Earth, wiping them out. But evolution didn't stop there, small creatures that lived underground survived and evolved into mammals of all breads, prey and predators alike. Back then, it was natural for predators to hunt prey, and it could have stayed that way for millions of years if it weren't for our rabbit ancestors... Do you know why?

The fox shook his head again.

"Our rabbit ancestors were easy prey, back then. When hunted or caught, they screamed and yelled; they weren't particularly dangerous; and they couldn't even fight back, but around 2.8 million years ago, they started to stand upright so that they could see further objects, like predators; then they evolved hands and fingers to make tools and weapons so that they could defend themselves. And after many years of evolution, they were able to fight back; they were superior to all predators because they understood one rule of survival: it was them or us; hunt or be hunted. And as for the predators, they understood that rule as well. Soon enough, predators and prey started to evolve and compete for survival, and eventually, they all stood upright, evolved hands and made weapons to hunt and defend. But that begs the question: millions of years of evolution; predators hunted prey for many years; how did the predators and prey get along?" the professor paused to see if the fox could answer the question.

"We evolved, and moved beyond our primitive savage ways?" answered the fox.

The professor hesitated for a moment to think about what he was going to say, "I'll ask the question from another perspective: why should the predators and prey get along?"

The fox looked at the professor, trying to interpret what he just said.

"The first sign of peace between predators and prey was around 10,000 thousands of years ago. At that time, mammals were hunters and gatherers, living in tribes, scattered all over Pangea. But unlike our ancestors, both predators and prey didn't bother each other that much. Seeing as prey were hard to hunt down, predators changed their main food source to fish catching, and continue to do so for thousands of years; and today as well. But then came Ice Age. It was the harshest and toughest Ice Age of all, so in order to survive the harsh winter, predators and prey migrated to the center of Pangea, where the humid subtropical climate is located—"

"What's a humid—?" questioned the fox.

"A zone that has humid summers and mild to cool winters; you know, Zootopia never snows, right?" replied the professor, "Now where was I... oh yes, now some mammals can hibernate, but others like rabbits, foxes, zebras, tigers can't, and when winter did come to Zootopia," the professor paused for a moment, "Now, it may be sound a bit absurd, but according to cave drawings, predators and prey worked together during ice age: prey caught fishes for predators while predators built camp fires to keep prey warm. So, the question is: why should the predators and prey get along; why didn't the predators eat all the prey that gathered in Zootopia; and why didn't the prey leave the predators to die of starvation during ice age, I mean, if they have done that then they would never have to fear the predators anymore…"

Before the fox could shake his head again, the professor opened his Zoogle Photo app on his notebook, and passed it to the fox, "Take a look at this cave drawing," the fox viewed at the cave drawing on the professor's notebook and saw rabbits surrounding a fox, and to his surprise, they weren't attacking the fox; they were learning from the fox. "According to this cave drawing, you'll see it depicts a fox teaching rabbits how to make fire. Now, because the predators eat meat, they learnt how to make fire and cook food, and as for the prey, they only knew how to farm, so during desperate times, prey did rely on predators for survival, because without them, even their furs couldn't keep them alive. For the first time, they co-existed."

The professor grabbed the notebook back, and searched for another photo, "There's another cave drawing that depicts a tiger shaking a zebra's hand, thanking them. Take a look."

The fox took the professor's notebook and viewed at it. "I saw this in the history museum."

"Ha, I bet you have," the professor smiled as he took back his notebook, "So did Ice Age help them bond a peace, not exactly, I mean, it didn't stop them from hating each other, but it didn't stop them from thanking each other either. And soon after the ice had melted, many went their separate ways, hence dividing into what we modern mammals called, Predators Continent up north and Prey Continent down south," the professor took a sip of red wine, and asked, "So, Nick, where's your hometown?"

"Zootopia?"

"No, what I meant to say, a hometown is where your kind lives or come from, like Bunnyburrow populated mostly with rabbits."

"I'm not sure... We have several hometowns that are populated with foxes. I'll have to ask my family."

"You go ask them, alright? I mean who knows, maybe your parents and their parents and many generations ago, were the predators who stayed and lived alongside the prey."

"Really, Mr. Hopps?"

"Indeed, some tribes, both predators and predators prey, stayed and formed a society where they could coexist; a place called, Zooland Kingdom."

"Not Zootopia?"

"It was the Medieval Age, c'mon, don't you know that?"

The fox shook his head again.

"That's expected, because what I'm about to tell you is undisclosed in school textbook; only taught in Zooland University."

The fox looked skeptical.

"I'm serious, Nick," said the professor, and seeing the fox raised his eyebrows, he asked, "Aright, I have another question for you. Do you know what a chicken is?"

"What's a… chicken, you mean 'don't let the fox guard the chicken coop?'" the fox looked surprised to hear the word 'chicken' as he had heard it from somewhere before, not in history class, but in his everyday conversations.

"I see you have heard the word 'chicken,' but did you know that predators ate chickens thousands of years ago?"

"But I thought chickens are birds, and birds can fly, so how did the predators eat birds from the sky?"

"What? No, chickens couldn't fly, but yes, they were birds. As for other birds, they can fly, and many of them are now living on an island above South Pole. They are considered to be the only uncontacted intelligent animals or lost tribes, and they are likely to remain so," the professor suddenly giggled, "Let me tell you: a few of my colleagues attempted to sail to the bird island so that they could study them, but guess what happened," before the fox could answer, the professor cranked the joke, "the birds were throwing spears and pooping at their ship from the sky! Ha, and when my colleagues returned, they said, 'and I thought they were intelligent species!' Those were some angry birds. "

The professor laughed, and so did the fox.

"Okay, let's not get off topic," said the professor after he took another sip of the red wine, "After Ice Age, animals such as bird-like creatures that laid dormant started to wake up. However, they haven't flown in years, so some decided to stay on the ground. Eventually, they evolved into chickens, birds that couldn't fly, which meant that they were easy prey. Around a few thousand years ago, predators would keep them in henhouses, and as farming got more and more efficient, what we call civilization began. Agriculture gave predators and prey a reliable and predictable food source, which allowed them to hoard food on a large scale for the first time. Farming required mammalpower(manpower), which led to other tribes and communities banding together, the need for organization grew. The more organized predators and prey got, the faster things became efficient. Villages became cities, cities became kingdoms, kingdoms became empires. But as predators' population increased over the medieval centuries, so did the demand for chickens. Many chicken farms became more like a slaughterhouse, in which they supplied about half of predators' food. However, something bad happened…"

"What happened?"

"Seven hundred years ago, there was a devastating pandemic, called the Black Death. The plague was thought to have infected the chickens at first, but it didn't kill the host; chickens acted as transmission, spreading across the entire northern continent and infecting those who consume chicken meat," the professor paused for a second to recall his memory. "Now, you have to understand that half the world's population was predators at that time and medical knowledge and treatments were very out-dated, and the only way to stop the plague from spreading was exterminating predators' own food source," the professor took another sip of red wine and carried on, "Frankly speaking, the predators had to kill all the chickens they could find… It was brutal; it was genocide; but it was necessary for survival. They did leave a few female ones alive so that they could lay eggs and reproduce, but what they didn't know was, if a chicken lays an egg without first mating with a male chicken, we called it a rooster, the egg is not fertilized, meaning it won't hatch, which led to… total extinction. The last chicken died around one thousand years ago."

"Chicken went extinct… because of us?"

"You have to understand: back then, hometowns were kinda like a empire of its own, like Russian bear empire, Chinese panda empire and British rabbit empire. Most of the kingdoms minded their own businesses, and when the plague got out of control, many predator kings were desperately trying to save themselves from being overthrown. But at the end, ironically it was the plague that killed most of them, not the usurpers. Even your king—

"I had a king?" the fox interrupted.

"Ah yes, a wolf king, he was the king of all foxes and wolves. He called himself, 'The King of the North,' but he didn't live for a very long time. Kings were dying like flies at that time, I mean; the Black Death is estimated to have infected 30 to 60 percent of predator's population, resulting in the deaths of an estimated one million, that was half of predators' population at that time. Only a minority of prey were infected since they didn't eat chicken. But the two main factors that stopped the plague from spreading to the southern continent was that chickens were concentrated in the northern continent, and since the center of Pangea was the only way to the southern continent, it acted as a barrier for the plague," the professor took one sip of the wine and continued, "Unfortunately for the predators: they had no leaders; they were starving; but they were not hopeless. Living on an infected continent, they desperately rushed to the southern continent where it was regarded as safe haven. The prey, however, did not want the infected predators roaming around their kingdoms, and were willing to do whatever it would take to stop them from crossing the southern continent, even starting a war… so, in desperate times, would the predators and prey call for desperate measures?" the professor looked at the fox, signaling him to answer, "C'mon, put yourself in their paws (shoes)."

The fox knew this wasn't a test but he was thinking very hard to answer this question, a real situation that had happened before.

"I don't know, I mean, if I were a predator at that time, and I saw my family and friends dying, I would risk my life just to get to safety… And if I were a prey, I guess I would freak out when the plague starts infecting my family?"

"You see, you're caught between a rock and a hard place and so did King Richard—"

"Who's King Richard?"

"Ah, he was a lion ruler of Zooland Kingdom, and as he saw more and more predators seeking refuge in his kingdom, he did two things to solve this outbreak: First, he had to quarantine the infected predators, preventing the plague from spreading into his kingdom. Second, he had to find another food supply for the refugees. The first task wasn't difficult seeing that he was the only hope they got, predators seek his leadership. But the second task was the hardest: predators has to eat high protein food to survive, however, the only food source he had was fishing, and with only a handful of fishing boats docked in his kingdom, he soon seek the southern kings for help, but even if they've agreed to help, fishing was uncommon for prey and they lacked fishing equipment. But not all hope was lost; King Richard finally came to terms with the prey kings that the refugees will remain in Zooland Kingdom, in exchange they came up with a proposal to solve the predators' food source: seeing predators eat high protein foods, they gathered as many pest insects from their farms as possible, and delivered to King Richard—"

"Is that how we change our diet?"

"Well, there weren't many alternatives for the predators to eat, so yes. They could have started eating prey and declaring war, I mean, after the chickens were exterminated, two thirds of the surviving predators were dying from hunger, not from the plague, meaning they would literally die for food, but King Richard prevented that from happening, in which he at least provided them an option, insect food or war. They chose insect over war, which I have to say was a bit gross but very honorable," the professor paused to take a sip of red wine and continued on, "I mean, at the blink of war, King Richard didn't rally the vicious predators to conquer the meek prey's kingdoms; he didn't seek power or riches; he just saw a bigger picture, and so did the prey kings: they saw how deadly a plague can be, going as far as animals extinction, and if they kept on minding their own businesses and isolating others because of hate and racism, another plague could have wiped out the entire mammal race; their vision for Zooland's future was democracy, which meant all mammals are involved in making decisions about their hometowns' affairs instead of kings deciding for them. It made the world more adjustable and flexible in facing catastrophic events; many hometowns opened up their borders, connections between predators and prey exploded which led to opportunities to exchange knowledge, bringing us into Renaissance Era. The Industrial Revolution followed soon after, laying the foundation for our modern world. Today, every hometown consists of one elected mayor, governing their own region for 4 years... and that's it, a brief history of Zooland..."

There was a moment of silence after the professor took one sip of red wine. In the absence of the professor's voice gave the fox time to digest the history.

"Why should the prey help us, I mean, why didn't they leave us to die? They are better off without us in every aspect: they don't have to fear us; they don't have to live with us; and they could be the dominant species left on Earth."

"You're right, that is why I asked a simple question from the very beginning, 'why should the predators and prey get along?' The Ice Age, the Black Death, and even at the blink of world war, these catastrophic events didn't tear us apart. Of course, sometimes we hate each other, sometimes we thank each other, but what kept us from killing each other was the 'love-hate relationship' between us: from ice age where predators had kept prey warm, to Middle Ages where prey had kept predators' from starving—"

"Mr. Hopps, I hate to break it to you but the only relationship I see today, between predators and prey, are racism and discrimination. You saw what Jill and William did to me, and I can tell you that was not what 'love-hate relationship' looks like."

The interruption caused the professor to hesitate. He had been through many lectures and debates between his students but he had never seen a student's brain responding him in a fraction of a second, like the fox didn't have to think and have already came up with many rebuttals, and to the professor surprise, he wasn't even in his class.

"Nick, you have to understand that never before, we mammals lived in a world as sophisticated and engineered to our need as today, giving us the luxury to forget about our nature and not worry about survival. After Medieval Era, we began to forge a society without fear; without worrying that the next day, we have no food to eat; no clothes to keep us warm; no medicine to cure our sickness; we could die tomorrow. All that, GONE! We forged a world where predators and prey could coexist; this coexistence and our relationship is a mixture of mutual reliance and prejudice, and during times of mutual reliance, the light bulb was invented by a predator, the Mona Lisa painting was painted by a prey, the first to circle around the globe and proved that Earth is round, was a predator. The point is: Predators are aggressive while prey are passive, without predators, there wouldn't be ambitious inventions and incredible discovers; without prey, there wouldn't be literacy, art and music; without mutual reliance, we would still be isolating each other, and progress won't be as exponential as it is today."

The professor answered the fox's question, with no sweat at all, but that didn't stop him from questing.

"The medieval part… the chicken extinction. Why aren't we taught in history class?"

"Nick, there're some parts of our history are better off left alone—"

"But isn't learning from our past mistakes the point of studying history?"

"You're right, the history class you took in high school only taught you the good side of our coexistence, The bad side, however, such as animals extinction, would only encourage more hate towards predators, but that doesn't mean it's hidden when you can look up on Zookipedia (Wikipedia), so if you're interested, go check it out, alright?"

"Thanks, Mr. Hopps... I'm sorry I was a bit rude when I questioned you—"

"Oh, that's fine. My students did that all the time, and I'm glad you did, otherwise you won't learn."

"Well, it is never too old to learn, right?"

"Ha! You remind me of one of my student," the professor pass the wine glass to the fox, and said, "Here, a toast to our coexistence, and for not eating us."

The fox kindly yet awkwardly accepted, "a toast… for not eating you..."said the fox, quickly sipping a little red wine, then passed back to the professor.

"I'm 84 years old; this could be my last history lesson, and I'm not planning on teaching my stubborn grandkids!" said the professor and chugged the remaining red wine, finishing it instantly.

"Nick, I want the world to be free from racism but I can't change who we are: you used to eat me and that's enough reason for prey to hate predators; no matter how we prey evolve, we just can't let go of our past history; predators however, they saw a bigger picture; they changed their diets multiple times instead of reverting back to eating us," the professor covered his mouth with his hand and belched discreetly, "I for one respect the predators; I respect your ancestors; I respect you."

The fox could tell that the professor was a bit drunk and emotional. He carefully replied, "Mr. Hopps. I appreciate the brief history lesson you gave me today. I know that prey outnumbered predators 10 to 1 and their opinions matter more than us. But, if I had the power to change who we are, I'll make sure that all of us are one unique dominate species with no race (like humans). Now I know why you helped me—"

Before the fox could finish, the door behind them abruptly barged in a bunny, "Nick, you're here with grandpa?"

The fox turned his head around, and said, "Carrots?"

"I have been looking everywhere for you. It's almost ten-thirty and the last train leaves at eleven," the bunny suddenly turned her attention to his grandpa, and said, "Oh grandpa, how are you?"

"Judy, I'm still alive and well, thank you. Me and Mr. Fox here are talking like civilized mammals, am I right, Mr. Fox?"

The fox nodded.

"Really, Nick? I don't think grandpa here is more… 'boring' than me, so if you like being bored, come with me and I'll 'bore' you even more."

"Okay, grandpa's not that boring…"

The fox rolled his eyes, turning his face towards the professor.

"Mr. Hopps... It was nice chatting with you—"

"Add me on Pawbook (Facebook) and we'll stay in touch."

"Oooooo, grandpa's got a Pawbook..."

"Judy, I added you, don't you know that already?"

"I have at least two thousand friends on my Pawbook—"

"Ha, Carrots, you have at least 3 Pawbook accounts, one of them is for family only, another is for friends only, and the last one is for ZPD—"

"Nick, one more word and I'll delete you."

The professor's eyes bulged a bit after he heard what the silly bunny said, "What do you mean, 'I'll delete you?'"

"Mr. Hopps, what she meant was removing me from her Pawbook friendlist—"

The annoyed bunny grabbed the fox's left arm and pulled him out of grandpa's studyroom, and said, "We have to go now or we'll miss the train! Bye, grandpa!"

"Carrots, hey, okay, okay! I'm coming... Goodnight, Mr. Hopps!"

"Nick, take good care of Judy—" the bunny slammed the door before the professor could finish, "…she's the only bunny living out of our circle…"

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I love history. Imagining Zootopia is fun! Even though it's not real, it's still fun to think of those little fluffy cute animals wondering around on the streets, coexisting together. I know, Disney forgot to explain how predators and prey get along, so here I am, writing this story for Zootopia's history. Cheers!


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